


White Feathered

by Neostone138



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Birds, Creature Fic, Creature Harry, Creature Inheritance, Gen, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Phoenix - Freeform, Poachers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-08
Updated: 2015-02-25
Packaged: 2018-03-11 01:03:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3310022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neostone138/pseuds/Neostone138
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's almost midnight, the day before Harry's 16th birthday and his life is about to change. Who knew a creature inheritance could be so bloody painful?<br/>BTW, Italic text is someone thinking, Bold text in "" is bird speak, and [BOXED IN] text is pager messages</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Transformation

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first time writing in a long time so I'm a little rusty but I hope you enjoy :)  
> This is currently rated teen but it will change as plot progresses.

It was July 30th and just as he had every birthday prior, Harry waited for midnight to strike. He would be turning 16 in a matter of minutes and so had quietly escaped the Dursleys’ home and was now relaxing on a park bench, glancing at his watch every few moments. He wished desperately he could be with Sirius to share this moment, but, as per Dumbledore’s direction he found himself once again on privet drive.

It wasn't so bad this summer. His ‘family’ now deliberately ignored him after Sirius had apparated into the living room shortly after Harry's arrival. The man had threatened them, easily slipping into his deranged prisoner of Azkaban persona, that if any of them “so much as touched a hair on Harry’s head” they would deeply regret it.

The brunet chuckled quietly at the memory. Of course, neither he nor Black had mentioned that the man was a fugitive and likely would not be able to visit again. Harry’s smile abruptly soured at this thought. The man had barely escaped the ministry with his life after a particularly intense duel with his cousin Bellatrix. Even after the minister had been forced to acknowledge the dark lord’s return, he was adamant that Black could not be cleared of guilt without proof that Pettigrew was alive. Black, apparently expecting this, had managed to escape the building before the turmoil had died down and was in hiding again.

Harry sighed. It was hard to accept that he couldn't stay with his only family, but he figured things would work themselves out in the end.

The teenager was suddenly jolted from his thoughts when the alarm he had set on his watch for 11:59:50 beeped at him excitedly.

_Only 10 seconds till I’m 16!_ He thought eagerly. He may have been the Boy-Who-Lived and the Savior of the Light, but he was still allowed to get excited for his birthday goddammit! Especially with everything that happened the last year, Harry figured he should allow himself to be happy, if only for a few moments.

_Ten, Nine, Eight, Seve-_ “Huh?!” he grunted into the night. Harry was interrupted from his countdown as a feeling akin to a nasty electric shock went shooting from his toes, up his spine finally slamming into his brain.

“AURGH!” Harry spat, now hunched over and gripping his knees to his face. The feeling only grew in intensity after the initial shock. Harry’s entire body felt electrified and had he not had his eyes squeezed shut, he would have noticed he was also glowing with the same erratic, pulsing energy. He couldn't think, couldn’t speak except in grunts and low groans, and couldn’t feel anything other than the intense magic coursing through his body.

As the glow intensified, the body it was emanating from began to shrink. Bone crunched and shifted into new shapes and soft, white feathers started to push their way through every inch of skin. What was once a short, skinny, but identifiable human being, became a churning mass of blood, feathers, and skin.

Harry shrieked in pain and promptly passed out.

Gone were the soft sounds of life in the wood surrounding the wizard. It seemed that the creatures understood, on some level, the danger of such immense power and did their best to hide away and stay silent.

o000o

Harry awoke in levels. At first it felt like he was deep underwater. His limbs and eyelids felt sluggish and he would have easily slipped back to sleep if it weren’t for the voice he heard through the darkness.

“You think it’s ok?” It was a woman’s voice. Harry was puzzled why there was someone he didn’t know in his room. Then a second voice,

“I don’t know,” a pause “Maybe we should call animal control” a second woman mumbled.

_Animal control? Why would they call animal control?_ Harry then attempted to open his eyes but immediately shut them with a groan. The light was way too bright.

“It could be someone’s pet. I’ve never seen anything like it around here. Huh? I think it’s starting to wake up!” the first woman whispered urgently, “You’re right, call animal control. Hopefully they’ll get here before it tries to fly away and hurts itself.”

_…FLY AWAY? AND WHY DO THEY KEEP CALLING ME IT? AND ANIMAL CONTROL!_ Harry was on the verge of panicking but struggled to stay calm and not let on that he was now fully awake. Instead he tried to remember if anything happened the night before.

It hit him like a ton of bricks.

The pain, the confusion, the women whispering over him, and the bright light of the sun. It was all starting to make a little more sense. Last night, someone had obviously cursed Harry causing him to pass out on the bench all night and now probably resemble something, birdlike? What spell could do that, he had no idea, but realized with startling clarity that he needed to get away from these muggle woman before they had him in a cage.

“It’s starting to fidget” the first woman, again, spoke.

“Maybe we should just back away from it.” Before the former woman could protest, “Look, for all we know it could be rabid or something. I’ve called AC and they said they should have someone out here in 20 minutes.” With that the two muggles backed away a bit to sit on the grass and watch the creature in front of them.

Harry’s eyes shot open. _Shit I don’t have much time. Ok, make a plan. If I do have wings, maybe I can fly away?_

The teenager cringed as his muscles complained loudly at being stirred, but managed to roll over onto his side and move one ~~arm~~ wing out in front of his face to examine it. The appendage was long and elegant and covered in soft, white, glimmering feathers.

_I guess I really am a bird then. Oh well._ Harry’s own apathy shocked him slightly, but he tried not to think about it and instead slowly rose onto his taloned feet. It was bizarre, standing up and realizing how close he was to the ground. It seemed he had rolled off the bench in the night and now at full height was about a foot taller than it.

_I’m a big bird then._ Harry thought this with a certain smugness. All his life he’d been on the short side due to malnutrition, but now he must be almost 3 feet in stature. Taller than any bird he’d ever seen! That must have been why the muggles stopped to gawk at him. Surely they would have not made such a big deal about a fallen raven or songbird. Thinking of the two, he glanced over his shoulder. The two women, both in workout clothes, _Must have been on a morning jog_ , were staring at him attentively from the other side of the path. As he stared, one turned to other and whispered something. The other nodded and with that they slowly stood and started walking down the path.

Harry shrugged, it seemed the two had no intention of staying around a potentially dangerous, giant, bird.

_Good on them for having common sense._ The bird thought, rolling his eyes. _Now I’ve just got to figure out how to fly and then I’ll…_

Harry realized he didn’t have a plan after that. Obviously he couldn’t stay where he was for fear of being captured, but were could he go? Privet drive was off the list, he was certain his aunt and uncle would have no sympathy for him whether or not he was able to convey that it was himself. Next was to go to Sirius, but he had no idea where the man was. Harry frowned. He was running out of options.

He could always try to go to Hogwarts, but the trip would be long and difficult and he had no idea if he would even be able to get through the magical wards as he was. Thoroughly put out, Harry decided that he should simply focus on surviving at the moment and worry about the details later. With that last thought, the boy turned bird glared up at the trees above and put all his effort into flapping his wings as he would his arms if he were pretending to fly. The motion didn’t quite carry as well as he hoped it would, but it got him of the ground and up onto a high branch.

Harry tried to relax but let out a load, indignant squawk when he started to slip off the branch.

_Still haven’t gotten the hang of this I guess._ The bird straightened himself on the branch but almost fell off again in shock. Within seconds of his vocalization he was surrounded by the sounds of birds flapping. All around him, some perching on branches some flitting about looking for a place to land, were the largest assortment of birds he had ever seen. The majority were common birds, like sparrows, owls, and crows, but a couple seemed to be more exotic.

_Probably pets._ Harry thought to himself. He wasn’t quite sure how to react until he spotted Hedwig among those gathered.

**“Hedwig!”** he called. The snowy owl immediately perked up and swooped over to perch by him. **“What’s going on here?”** He was pretty sure he wasn’t speaking in English but hoped his friend would understand him.

**“You sent out a distress call and all who heard you have come to your aid”** the bird cooed matter-of-factly. She didn’t seem worried or even confused about her owner’s new appearance.

**“Ok, so my shout as I fell off the branch was what called them, but I don’t understand why”** it was starting to unnerve him how calm everyone was around him, when to Harry, this was clearly not normal.

Hedwig stared at him with a somewhat confused look before deadpanning, **“You are our lord, of course we will come when you command.”**

Harry nearly fell of the branch again. **“WHAT?”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, as a warning this fic is likely going to get significantly more violent and more racy as it goes on, this was just an intro chapter to set the premise :) Also, the pairing is completely up in the air, please comment the name of the character you want to see Harry with and I'll keep track in the author's note at the end of each chapter.


	2. Niveus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry starts to learn about what he has become and someone unsavory makes an exciting discovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow, two chapters in one night, i think i might be crazy 0_0  
> to clear up a commenter's question, yes the fight at the ministry did happen, this is just a slight AU where Sirius survives but is still a wanted man.

Harry stared dumbly at the bird for a good minute, beak slightly agape, before he could start to form words.

 **“Lord?”** he paused expecting to be corrected. **“As in Lord of the birds, of all things?”**

Hedwig replied in the same soft coo as before, **“Yes. It is your birthright.”**

Harry sighed to himself. Clearly the owl was not understanding just how little he was understanding. **“Hedwig, you really aren’t explaining much. I really have zero idea what is happening right now.”** He sighed again, **“Can you please tell me everything you know. Assume I know nothing and start from there.”**

Finished with his rant Harry looked down at Hedwig to make sure she was not angry with him. He was then startled to see a very different reaction. The poor bird appeared to be in shock, but quickly recovered and fixed her face with tender expression.

 **“I’m sorry you’re so confused my lord. I should have realized there’s no way you could have known being as sheltered as you are,”** here Harry interrupted her.

 **“I hardly think I’ve been sheltered! Maybe when I was young I was kept away from magic, but since then I’ve seen and experienced more than some people do in their entire lives!”** Harry seethed for another moment before realizing who he was talking to. His companion looked a bit taken aback and he instantly regretted his outburst. **“Hedwig, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell. I’m just confused and that scares me a little bit.”** He paused, **“also, please call me Harry. I’ve known you for five years.”**

Hedwig, who had reverted to her gentler continence, thought for a moment before speaking. **“Harry, ok. I think I really do have a lot to explain and it’d probably be better if we went somewhere safer before I do.”**

At this, Harry’s eyes darted around the trees at all the birds suspiciously.

 **“No, I’m not talking about them,”** the owl puffed, **“I’m talking about the possibility of a wizard or witch finding you.”**

Once again, Harry’s eyes frantically searched the area. **“And why would it be so bad if someone did find me?”** Harry asked, voice not without a trace of panic.

 **“Because, you are one of the rarest creatures in existence and in an obviously weakened state.”** She paused looking at Harry with an almost sad expression, **“I’m sure you know why those two things do not go well together.”**

Harry looked even more panicked at this, but did not say anything, simply looking at Hedwig to tell him what to do.

Not wanting to frighten her lord further, Hedwig spoke in her gentlest coo. **“Harry, let’s go. Without further instruction from you, the birds will disperse once you leave. Let’s fly deeper into the park, there is a wood nearby and we should be safe further from civilization.”**

Harry nodded, not trusting himself to speak at the moment, and sprang into the air. Flying was easier now that he was not taking off from the ground, and within the first few beats of his wings, he got the hang of it. He slowed his beating once he was higher in the air and waited for Hedwig to overtake him so she could lead. She did, and just like that they were off.

o000o

It was only a couple minutes after the large group of birds departed that a man with a net on a long pole and an animal control uniform reached the park bench. This man was not a muggle.

This man was also not an average wizard. He was what some would call a poacher. He, and others like him, were distributed across the world, often working as animal control or police officers so they would be able to intercept any report that sounded like a magical animal. It was a slow job, but intensely rewarding when something was found.

This man in particular was a largely successful poacher who had had a slow week.

 _One measly pixie out of 13 fucking call-ins. God damn I need this one. A three foot bird? That’s got to be something. The muggle who reported it did sound a bit scared._ ”Hmph.” He sneered, he hated muggles. The only thing they were good for was there reliable fear of, and tendency to report, anything different.

The man was so lost in this train of thought he almost didn’t realize he had arrived at the location of the call in. Looking around he saw no sign of the muggle who saw the bird or the create itself. _Figures._

It was time to do a more thorough search of the area. He started by pulling out his wand and flicking it about, trying to pick up a magical signature of any kind. It suddenly sparked in his hand. _OH?_ He followed the direction of the sparks right up to the bench and saw the impression of an animal in the dirt below. _Oh._ It seemed like today was his lucky day.

The man smirked to himself, leaning down to measure the imprint. _You appear to be about 3.2 feet tall aaand about 1 foot across._ He smirked again, few birds could get to be that big. He stood from the ground, continuing to follow the magic signature until it pointed straight up a nearby oak. _Figures._

The man started waving his wand and muttering under his breath until his cloths began to float upward, pulling him with them. He landed on the first big branch he saw, seeing that the magic was again more concentrated. It only took a second for him to notice the large, pearlescent feather gently resting on the limb a couple feet from him.

 _Time to figure out what this SOB is._ He chuckled darkly once more, summoning the feather into his hand. The moment it touched he felt a surge of power run up his arm. _HOLY SHIT._

The now intensely excited man really wanted to believe that he had found what he thought he had. If he was right, this feather alone could fetch a ridiculous price from the right people and the whole animal! He nearly fell off the limb in excitement.

_Looks like I’m going to have to call in some backup._

o000o

Harry found himself in much the same position he had been a few hours earlier. Perched on a branch, beak agape, and staring somewhat dumbly at Hedwig. Only difference, this time he had been holding this position for the past hour.

It had taken quite a while for the teenager to wrap his head around everything the bird had painstakingly explained. **“Ok. I’m just going to say this all out loud to be sure I understand everything. Correct me if I’m wrong.”**

Hedwig nodded her understanding.

 **“So, I am something called a phoinix Niveus. Which is Latin for ‘white phoenix’. Can you explain again why the name is in Latin?”** Harry questioned.

The owl thought for a second, **“It’s just what a human would call you. It’s nothing more than a mortal’s way of trying to describe you. It doesn’t even begin to encompass what you really are.”**

 **“Right, right.”** Harry mumbled, the next part was considerably more confusing. **“According to you, a phoenix Niveus is more than just a phoenix that happens to be white. It is a different, if largely similar species. They both can live for thousands of years and only die when they decide to or have their life-force absorbed by another being. However, Niveus are much rarer and are not born from two parents the same way a regular phoenix is. It isn’t know how or why they are created when they are, just that they seem to come into the world in times of great darkness. They also have a human form, which regular phoenix only very rarely do. Instead of just healing wounds, a Niveus’s tears can heal, purify, and bring back to life anything they touch. The two species also share highly magical feathers, but, once again, the Niveus’s are far more potent and carry the bird’s ability to heal and purify.”** Harry paused here to glance back at Hedwig who only nodded for him to continue. **“Niveus sightings are extraordinarily rare through all recorded history, and even the birds of the earth only know of there being perhaps 4 or 5 over the last 6000 years. The last time one was known to the wizarding world was 200 years ago. It was worshiped by a cult of witches and wizards and freely supplied its feathers for their benefit. However, it flew off one day without so much as a farewell, meaning even fragments of its feathers can go for hundreds of thousands of Galleons.”** Harry sighed, so much for this being an easily fixable problem. **“Basically, with all this in mind, I’m extremely lucky that it was a muggle who discovered me and not a wizard.”**

 **“Yes, all correct. The only reason I called you sheltered before was that most witches and wizards grow up hearing stories of Niveus and would recognize you from your striking appearance and magical aura.”** Harry blushed in embarrassment. **“I’m happy that I found you before anyone else.”** Hedwig concluded, beaming at Harry.

 **”I still have one question though, how do you know all this?”** Harry was grateful that Hedwig was there to help him, it just amazed him how she could have such immense knowledge growing up in a pet shop.

Hedwig, not for the first time that day, looked a bit shocked before reeling herself back in and fixing her expression. **“I guess you couldn’t know that either… Well Harry, all animals that are influenced by magic grow up with a certain knowledge about ourselves and our own species. Being around others different from us, we absorb their magic and their knowledge about themselves. I know about Niveus from being around you, though it appears you cannot access that information.”** Harry seemed to be following along, but he still looked a bit confused. **“I suppose it’s like instinct. Just like we instinctively know how to fly, we instinctively know what species we are and what we need to do to survive. It’s hard to explain something you inherently have.”**

With that the bird concluded and continued to watch Harry expecting an answer. However, one never came. The large bird sat very still, trying to organize all the thoughts in his head and clearly not being to successful.

 **“Try not to fret about it too much Harry,”** the owl cooed reassuringly, **“we have more important things to worry about, like hunting dinner”** harry cringed at this, **“and deciding where we’re going to sleep for the night.”**

 **”Alright”** harry grumbled, and the two set off their branch to search the underbrush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oooh! BTW, voting and comments on who harry should be paired with are still much appreciated :)


	3. Time Flies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its been just over 3 weeks and Harry is comfortably adjusted to his new life, but all is not well in the world! Summer is passing by, poachers are closing in, and a very concerned godfather is searching for answers!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For reference, harry is the same size as a Philippine Eagle, the largest living Raptor, and looks like one with all white feathers and longer head plumage and tail feathers.  
> I'm really getting into writing this, but I may not be able to update for a week or so due to school. I hope this monster of a chapter will make up for that :)

Harry, now almost fully adjusted to life in the woods, dove down into the underbrush to grab the rat he been stalking for the past 10 minutes. He caught it easily in his sharp talons and immediately alighted on a nearby branch to consume his kill.

 _It’s funny how used to this I’ve gotten._ The bird mused, and it was true! In the very beginning he had almost refused a kill Hedwig had made for him, only accepting to avoid the disappointed look on her face. The delicate taste of flesh, the thrill of hot blood in his mouth, it had changed everything. Harry had begun living on instinct and learning more about himself and his new body. Like how amazing the wind felt, caressing his every feather mid-dive, or how much more vibrant the flora grew that he touched and breathed on, even the overpowering rush that came from a successful hunt. Yes, Harry had learned.

A thought startled him out of his post hunt daze. _How long have I been like this?_

It was a hard question. It felt like he had been this way his entire life, but Harry knew it couldn’t have been longer than a month; the weather had not changed at all yet. Slightly perturbed by not being able to answer this question, he called out a single low, clear note. Within a minute, Hedwig appeared before him and gently perched on the limb beside him.

 **“Yes Harry? What is it you want?”** the snowy owl asked in her low, soft coo. The two had only grown closer as time passed and she had taught him a call that she could here from over a mile away.

Harry looked at her intently, **“How long have I been a bird? I’ve been trying to remember but it’s hard, all the days seem to blend together.”** He cocked his head to the side and waited for her answer.

The owl’s reaction was very human like. She seemed to pause, then look up to side as if trying to see something inside her head, then down, then her gazed snapped back up to Harry’s when she had found the answer. **“It has been 22 days since you transformed and we flew here.”**

Harry mulled this over in his head. _I suppose that makes sense… Still! It’s awfully strange. Not once since I changed have I felt pain in my scar or seen through Voldemort’s eyes. I also don’t think I’ve thought about changing back since I arrived in the forest._ It did worry Harry how apathetic he was becoming towards things that meant so much to him before.

Still, the school year was fast approaching and he had obligations.

The Niveus looked to his companion, **“Hedwig? Do you think you could help me figure out how to change into my human state?”**

Once again, the owl’s reaction was very humanlike. She squinted her eyes, glanced to the left, then stared back up at Harry. **“I really don’t know,”** a pause, **“I don’t have a human form so I’ve never experienced changing myself, but I would imagine the process would be similar to a wizard going into or coming out of animagus form.”** Here she paused again and shrugged, **“Maybe you should just try imagining yourself as a human. Just, go down to the ground before you do.”**

Harry rolled his eyes at Hedwig’s last comment. _I’m not stupid you know._

With a flourish of his wings, the bird dropped down, then gently alighted on the ground below. Hedwig followed.

 **“Ok, now just close your eyes and try to imagine your human body,”** the owl murmured.

Harry did just that. He pictured his wings melting into arms, his face flattening and growing into its old shape, and his body elongating and shedding its feathers. Through all this, the bird had begun to glow brighter and brighter with the same electric energy as before.

Harry could feel the power surging through him and under his skin, only this time it wasn’t painful. At the very end he did get extremely itchy and realized, with a start, that he was feeling his feathers retreating back into his skin. _This is so bloody weird._

With one final, blinding, pulse, the light faded out and left a very naked teenage sprawled on the ground.

 _Oh wow, this feels weird._ Harry spent the next several minutes running his fingers over his arms, legs, face and torso. It seemed he looked much the same as before, although there were a few differences.

For starters, he could fell his hair brushing lightly against his lower back. He pulled a strand around to his face and noticed most of it was still black, but he had a few long, silver strands mixed in. He also realized, with a jolt of satisfaction, that his back, shoulder, pectoral, and abdominal muscles were all quite a bit more defined. He was still slim, but his upper body now made a more defined triangle shape, broad shoulders sloping down to a narrow waste and hips.

 _I suppose it makes sense, seeing as I’ve been flying non-stop for the past three weeks._ He also noticed that where his ribs had once been painfully visible, there now sat a thin layer of fat and muscle. _That’s good to see, even though I’ve only been eating small mammals and reptiles, I guess the proportional amount I’ve had is larger than before._

Having finished his main inspection, it took Harry another good 5 minutes to realize he was naked.

He then wondered if he would still be able to talk with his owl. **“Hedwig?”** he glanced over to where she had been sitting and saw her nod. _Ok, good. At least I can still do that._ **“Do you have any idea where my clothes might be?”**

Hedwig just shook her head. **“They probably burned off of you during your initial transformation.”**

Harry thought for a moment. _If I really was letting off that much power it’s a miracle no one found me!_ He shuddered slightly at that thought. Suddenly, he reached up to his face and felt that his glasses were also gone. _I guess birds have perfect eyesight._ He shrugged.

 **“Ok, can you help me find some clothes? I think I’m going to change back into my bird form for a bit, but when I do decide to reenter the world, I can’t really do it naked.”** Harry glanced at his friend.

The owl nodded, **“You should try practicing wandless magic when in form, and once you can control it, accio or conjure yourself something.”**

 **“Ok, I can do that.”** Harry started picturing himself as a bird again, and within a few minutes was airborne and en-route to his and Hedwig’s hideaway to practice.

What he didn’t picture, was a manically grinning man, hiding in the underbrush 30 feet away.

o000o

“Marco! Marco!” said man sneered and glanced back at his inferior. _I’m trying to run a bird hunt here! Not wake the fucking dead._ The fool had disturbed his hiding spot and would pay for it dearly. His expression changed, however, when he noticed the wide grin on the squat man’s face.

“What is it Tibeus?” The taller wizard arched a brow. “Did you get bit by a snake, or did something worth mentioning actually happen?” he spat. His sneer softened into a slight frown when this did nothing to detract from the other man’s glee.

“I saw him!” At the puzzled look, “Yes! Him, I was making my rounds and not 30 fucking feet from me I saw a huge, white bird land on the ground! And it’s wings! Holy shit they must have been longer than I am tall!” Marcos smirked, but quickly glared at Tibeus for his noise level. Taking the hint, the shorter man continued in an excited whisper, “That’s not even the best part! Right after it landed, it started to talk to a smaller bird beside it, then it started bloody glowing! In a few minutes it was a teenager!” This did put a bit of shock on Marcos’s face.

 _If its human form is just a boy, it must be extremely young! This will make capturing it all the easier._ He smirked. Of course the poacher knew this would be no simple matter. The creature he was after could probably kill him with little more than a glance, _but a fledgling won’t know that yet._

He was interrupted out of his musings by Tibeus’s continued story. “It was bizarre though, the boy just sat there on the ground inspecting his body and talking to the bird. After a good 20 minutes he started glowing again, turned back into a bird, and flew off!” It was obvious the short poacher was still in shock over what he had seen, but his superior was nowhere near as naive.

”You were right to not try to follow him, not only might you have scared him away, he likely would have killed you and the rest of us would have been none the wiser.” he glanced over to see the other man looked a bit shaken at the thought. “Anyways, we need to act quickly now that we know which part of the forest it lives in. Quickly, go and summon the others from our group and tell them to meet me here.” The other gave him a confused look. _Idiot._

“Look, Tibeus. We don’t know how long it stays in one spot. We need to take the last few hours of daylight to prepare, then at nightfall, we attack.” He grinned smugly, power and riches beyond anything he had experienced before were now right at his fingertips.

_Soon._

o000o

At first, Sirius had been concerned. Then he had been frustrated. It was now with a boiling rage that he found himself standing at the front door of number 4 Privet Drive.

 _Three weeks. It’s been three bloody weeks and not once has Harry written a letter. If they've done ANYTHING to him they’re going to wish they’d never been born._ With that thought he practically decimated the door with three heavy knocks.

He could hear murmuring from inside but no footsteps approached to let him in. Black’s eyes lit up with fury, it was practically an admission of guilt.

Without waiting another second, the fugitive sent the door flying into the entryway with one powerful kick and stormed into the living room, wand drawn, where the Dursleys were sitting petrified with fear.

“I’m only going to say this once so listen carefully. If you don’t tell me what you’ve done to my godson and where he is in the next 30 seconds I’m going to transfigure you all into lobsters and boil you alive.” He paused noting the visible flinches, “Do I make myself clear?”

It was Petunia who spoke up, “B-but Black, we d-didn’t do a thing.” She cringed slightly at the shakiness in her own voice and the look Sirius gave her. It was as if he were trying to kill her with his eyes. She continued, “He-h-he just left one day, and we ass-sumed he’d gone to you.” She held her ground as best she could under the intense scrutiny of his glare.

“Well you assumed wrong.” The wizard had gotten very quiet now. “Not only has he not written my in three weeks, but any owl I send with a letter addressed directly to Harry returns without finding him and any I send directly to Privet drive returns with no reply.” He stood there, thinking and scratching his stubble with his wand.

Petunia, confidence regained, quickly interjected, “We haven’t heard anything from him in three weeks either. He must have left sometime in the night before July 31,” she glanced around at her family for support, but neither male wanted to bring Black’s attention onto themselves. “Harry must have left a locking charm on his door, because we haven’t been able to go inside to see if he really has gone forever.”

She realized her gaze had traveled down to the floor and snapped it back up to the imposing man’s eyes. She was shocked to see that the anger there had died down into what looked like a mix of fear and concern.

“Ok, I suppose you’ve done nothing other than neglect the boy so I’ll let you off with a warning.” Sirius tried to sound as deadly as before but he couldn’t quite muster it. “I’m going to go and search Harry’s room for clues. Once I finish, I’ll leave and you’ll probably never hear from either of us again. Goodbye.” Without awaiting a response, Black turned on his heel and darted up the stairs to his godson’s room.

 _Whatever I find in there is going to worry me._ Sirius thought morosely. He quickly approached the door and noticed a very simple distraction charm. The door only appeared to be locked to those it was warded against.

 _Clever boy._ Black thought with a slight grin. He then opened the door and almost reeled back in shock.

Everything was there. From Harry’s suitcase, still tucked under his bed, to his clothes, haphazardly strewn about, to his school books. Things were beginning to look very bad.

Black inspected the room from ceiling to floor, searching for another hint as to what might have happened. He had a nasty shock when, underneath a floorboard in the middle of the room, he discovered Harry’s wand along with the photo album of his parents.

 _These are Harry’s most prized possessions! No way in bloody hell he would run away without his wand!_ Sirius could feel a panic creeping into his thoughts. There were very few reasons a wizard as smart as his godson would leave his wand. Either he’s been abducted, killed, or gone somewhere he did not need his wand.

He knew that one of the two former were much more likely, but he pleaded to every god and goddess he knew that it had been the third.

Knowing there was nothing more he could for Harry here, Black shrunk and packed all of Harry’s things into his trunk, save his wand. He then shrunk the luggage and slipped it and the wand into a pocket.

 _At least I didn’t find a dead owl._ It then hit him, that was another clue! If Hedwig was alive, perhaps his godson had had time to release her before disappearing. This at least meant he wasn’t slaughtered in his room on the eve of his birthday; and that was another thing. Did his birthday have something to do with this?

Still frightened for the boy, but filled with a glimmer hope and dozens of questions, Sirius left the muggle home. It was time he contacted Moony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so far i've got a lot of people for draco (as a veela), snape, or charlie. Keep commenting :)


	4. The Twilight Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who is this new man hiding amongst the poachers? And exactly how stable is Marcos? Evening has finally arrived and a lot is going to happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woW this chapter is over 4000 words, I think I got a little carried away  
> Also, I've made a tumblr for this fic, its http://white--feathered.tumblr.com/ and uploaded character designs for both Harry's bird form and Marcos if you want to see :)

In the frantic excitement following a relatively short meeting, a tall, freckled wizard quietly slipped away from the other attendees. The purpose of the meeting had been an attempt to organize the group of 19 wizards and witches who had been camping out in a wood on the outskirts of a small muggle suburb. Their excitement had been brought on by the discovery of the territory of one large, white, powerful bird, and a review of everyone’s roles over the next several hours.

The aforementioned wizard, who was now briskly walking to a tree stump 100 meters or so from camp, was to join two others in wrangling the animal into more permanent magical constraints once it had been stunned or otherwise subdued by the main team. What the other wizards didn’t know however, was that this wizard was there for a very different reason than them.

As a matter of fact, this man had nothing more in common with his peers than magical ability.

Where they were attempting to capture this magical creature, he was there to ensure their failure. Most of the time, his job was easy, slip the creature the wrong potion ‘on accident’, obliviate a poacher or two, even release his charge then fake serious injury. He had a dozen or so different aliasis to use or kill, all with documentation and convincing backstories via the Rare or Otherwise Endangered Subdivision of the Beast Division of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.

 _What a mouthful._ His employer’s name was annoying to say even in his head. The man brushed off the random thought and kept walking.

His current alias was named Emil Bogza and was said to be the most skilled wizard at controlling magical animals in all of Romania. Most of his identities were from Romania as he had contacts both within and without the illegal creature trade network there who could help add legitimacy to his stories. Emil had short-cut, blonde hair and pale, grey eyes. He also had a longer, bumped nose and a narrower chin than his creator. He preferred to use muggle methods and as little magic as possible to form his disguise, ensuring that a more powerful witch or wizard would not as easily notice a dramatic glamor and blow his cover.

The real man, named Charlie Weasley, was currently racking his brain, trying to figure out how to perform his job.

 _With this unexpected development, I have no time to warn the creature beforehand or set up a trap for the poachers. There are too many of them for me to obliviate on my own and a two person team to ensure the bird is properly secured._ Charlie was at loss, but knew that this was most likely the most important case of his life. Five of his aliasis had been contacted during the initial recruitment drive two weeks ago and it had been difficult to fabricate reasons why all but one could not attend the meet up to learn what it was that excited the network. Finally, he convinced one of friends from the dragon reserve to go as a second of his Romanian poachers under heavy glamor.

It had been chaos. Almost every wizard that had been invited, and a few that hadn’t, took over a small farm in the middle of nowhere Russia and had partied and debated for three days. During that time, the original poacher who had made the discovery, a tall, Portuguese man named Marcos Coval, had made numerous and extravagant claims of the creature he had come across. He believed it was a, thought to be extinct borderline legendary, phoinix Niveus. No one had believed him of course, but on the second day, in a sufficiently drunk state, he did something extraordinary.

_o000o Two weeks ago o000o_

In a small farmhouse sitting in the middle of large, open medow, loud laughter and yelling could be heard bursting out in waves as equally obtrusive lights pulsed out the windows.

“It’s fiiine, I don’t care whetheryou fuckers believe me! ITS YOUR FUCKING LOSS!” an inebriated man shouted out, promptly falling backwards off his seat. This caused the equally inebriated people around him to break into hysterical laughter.

A nearby witch, taking some sympathy in the man, hefted him back up into the seat and swung an arm around his shoulders. “Is NOT ve don’t vant to believe you,” she snickered in an uneven slur, “Is just vhat you’re saying IS UNBELIEEVEABLE!” The others around her nodded in agreement, many still chuckling or trying not to around their drinks.

The man, Marcos, paused for a second, his face relaxing from its snarl and a mischievous glint lighting in his eyes. “What if I could prove it to you, Natasha?” He then spun around making eye contact with everyone in the room, “what if I could prove it you ALL!? Then would you help me?” Most of the group still looked skeptical, but the laughter had died down.

Natasha, with her arm still loosely resting on his shoulders, turned to him fully, “Zat vould be great.” She paused, glancing around, “we’ve been here vor almost two whole days and you’ve done nuszing but tell stories. Vhat makes you zink zat you have found a Niveus?” The Ukrainian poacher looked at him with big eyes, “I’m not even sure I believe zey exist.”

All of the others gathered in the room now peered at the two with intensified interest. All traces of laughter had gone.

Marcos spoke and moved slowly, carefully pulling a three foot feather from an inner pocket of his coat. “I believe I’ve found a Niveus, because of this.”

_o000o Present o000o_

Of course all the poachers in attendance had begged to touch or examine the feather themselves. Marcos had only let a few touch it, claiming the majority would have to take his or the others’ word. This had caused a bit of a stir but the group was quickly guilted into silence when Natasha had accusingly questioned if any of them would let a near stranger touch it were it in their own possession. Emil had been among the chosen few who were allowed to examine it and from the moment it brushed his fingertips, Charlie knew that he would be very busy in the coming months.

The wizard pulled himself out of his thoughts upon reaching a non-descript tree stump. The tree itself had fallen naturally and was slowly decomposing a few feet away, but it had broken off its roots, leaving a jagged lump of rotting wood behind.

Charlie carefully dug his hand down into one of the cracks and pulled out a small grey box with a screen and a keyboard. It was his father’s invention, the man was obsessed with muggle technology and had outfitted a pager to be able to send and receive short messages. It was extremely annoying to use, but, as deeply planted as Charlie was, he had no way to send or receive messages the normal way and no other contact with the outside world. It was not difficult to hide, and practically undetectable by magical means.

One glance at the screen however, confused the wizard greatly. One message had been sent 8 times in the last hour.

A: [HARRY IS GONE]

‘A’ was his father Arthur’s signature. He tapped out a reply.

C: [WHAT THAT MEAN?]

He got a reply within seconds. _Dad must’ve been watching it._

A: [H NOT WRITE TO B FOR 3 WEEK]

_‘H’ must be Harry and ‘B’ is who, Black?_

A: [B WORRIED SO CHECK MUGGLES]

A: [THEY NOT SEE HIM SINCE JULY 31]

A: [JULY 31 HIS BDAY]

A: [THINGS STILL IN ROOM BUT NO H]

His dad was right to be worried of course, Harry disappearing without packing any of his things or a single word to his godfather was potentially very bad. What Charlie didn’t understand was how this pertained to him and his current situation. Sure, it was bad Harry had left, but having heard stories of his resourcefulness he would probably be ok. Anyways, he had more important things to worry about, like preventing a power hungry maniac from gaining control of one of the most powerful creatures in existence.

C: [WHY TELL ME]

The reply was instantaneous.

A: [YOU SAME PLACE H LIVE]

A: [H NOT TAKE WAND]

Charlie was greatly surprised to learn that Harry had not taken his wand _DEFINITELY not a good a sign_ , but was even more shocked to learn that his work had taken him so close to the teen’s home.

C: [HOW CLOSE]

He was anxious to hear his father’s reply. A terrible thought had entered his mind which he was desperate to dispel.

A: [H LIVE IN LITTLE WHINGING]

A: [4 PRIVET DR]

 _Shit._ The group had scanned the nearby neighborhoods for any sign of the bird and he himself had walked down Privet Drive twelve days prior. He had also heard a brief description of the bird’s human form. A lower level poacher, there more for muscle than anything, had been the one to stumble upon the Niveus and witnessed it transform. He had claimed to see a skinny, young looking man with long black hair and glowing green eyes.

It could be a complete coincidence of course, but how often did those happen? Having studied magical creatures for years, Charlie knew more than most of creature inheritances. For some it was a point of family pride, for others it could be permanently disfiguring, but it was always basically the same story.

Through some connection to a creature or creature race, via blood or magic, a young witch or wizard would take on their non-human form at the age of maturity of said race. The most common were the children of werewolves, vampires, veelas, but occasionally, in his research, he would come across stories of wizards who had magically inherited the traits of an unrelated creature. There were no usual circumstances for such an event as they were extremely rare. Still, one of the most powerful wizards of a generation mysteriously vanishes on his birthday, leaving behind all of his material possessions the same time a magical creature surfaces in the same area, with the same appearance, and the same reputation for extraordinary magical ability, Charlie’s assumption was becoming more and plausible. He sighed softly, then looked back down at the pager.

A: [YOU NEAR THERE, RIGHT]

C: [YES, YOU REMEM RIGHT]

C: [I THINK I MIGHT KNOW WHERE H]

Once again, the reply was near instantaneous.

A: [YOU SEE HIM? HE OK?]

C: [I NOT SEE, NOT KNOW]

C: [HE DISAPEAR SAME TIME]

C: [CREATURE APPEAR]

Charlie knew he wasn’t being super clear, but it was difficult to relay his complex thinking process in so few characters.

A: [WHAT?]

C: [POACHERS AFTER NIVEUS]

C: [APPEAR JULY 31 HERE]

C: [HUMAN FORM IS SKINNY TEEN]

C: [WITH BLACK HAIR]

C: [GREEN EYES]

C: [MAYBE H INHERIT]

He paused, his father was a smart man and would be able to decode his message from the little intel Charlie had already supplied him about his current case. He hoped to Merlin that the man would understand the gravity of the situation.

A: [YOU SURE?]

Those two words asked such a loaded question, Charlie didn’t know how to respond. Logically, he had made quite a few leaps that could easily be written off panic and false connections, but in his gut, Charlie was positive.

C: [… YES]

o000o

It was an hour before sunset and Marcos was about to explode with nervous energy.

 _This better go off without a hitch or I swear to Merlin I’m going to have someone’s head on a stick._ That was an exciting thought on its own. It’d been a while since the poacher had had reason to kill a man and he had been dying to off a certain pest in his ranks. Even though Tibeus had been the one to discover the location of his prize, the man was petty and smelled horrible. Marcos greatly regretted taking him on this venture and had only included him to increase the number of wands under his control.

_No one here likes the idiot and chances are he’ll visibly fuck something up anyhow. Maybe I shouldn’t kill him outright, but I’d be justified in taking my anger out on him. Maybe a few cutting charms, a burning curse, it’d be so easy to fatally wound him by accident… Yes, he will be my scapegoat._

This train of thought calmed the tall wizard down a few degrees. Just picturing hurting the object of his hate soothed him, and cleared his head of the erratic what ifs that had been buzzing through it a minute ago. Hopefully, all would go as planned and he would apparate away with the bird as soon as it was under control. He knew that the majority of the other poachers were having similar thoughts. _Who in this world wants to share?_

However, if any followed or tried to stop him, he knew quite a few spells that could easily subdue or a kill without setting off the ministry censors tracking the use of the unforgiveable curses. Another thing the others couldn’t know was that the paranoid man had already got a firm fix on the Niveus’s magical signature. Having had the feather for almost a month, he had studied it in depth, and could always tell approximately where the bird was. It was not super accurate, he couldn’t find where in the forest the bird was, only that it was within half a mile from him, but could use it to track anyone who attempted to escape with the bird in tow.

He sneered again to himself, _If any are so foolish to stand in my way, I will STRIKE THEM DOWN._

o000o

Harry was relaxing on a high branch of the ash tree he and Hedwig had claimed. Other birds seemed to give the tree a wide girth when flying past. They feared and respected his power, but still came when he called.

The teen had only tried calling a whole flock one time and immediately felt bad. Birds of every kind stopped what they were doing, some still with prey clutched in their talons, and circled the branch he was perched on with varying levels of urgency. A couple even looked like they were about to cry, they so feared for his safety.

Harry had briefly conversed with a couple, asking their names and such, but it became abundantly clear that most of the wild birds had only recently acquired magic from being around him and could barely talk. A few could do no more than follow simple commands and knew nothing of their names or species. He quickly dispersed them and had gone off to hunt for dinner.

Now, Harry was more focused on his wizard magic over his, ironically dubbed, bird lord abilities.

 _Diminuendo._ The boy thought the charm’s name as hard as he could while focusing on a leaf resting on the branch in front of him. Sure enough, the leaf shrunk down to a fraction of its size in a little burst of white light. _I’m getting better at this_ , Harry proudly thought to himself. He had just begun practicing wandless, and for that matter voiceless, magic and could already perform simple spells and accio nearby objects.

The use of his magic in such a way felt drastically different than with a wand. Before, he had felt a smooth, single burst of power flow from his body, down his arm, and into his wand. Now, every time he cast even the simplest spell, he felt an enormous pressure of magic in his whole body, only to have it seep out skin and towards his target.

 _I miss my wand._ He thought sadly. He had tried accoing it multiple times, but it appeared it was too far away for him to summon with his current skill level.

Harry continued to charm and accio small objects around him for a good half an hour. The sun then started to set and he decided it was time to wake Hedwig for their evening hunt. She was resting on the same branch, further down almost touching the trunk.

He stilled, still looking at his companion. She looked so peaceful like this. She was nocturnal so he had woke her up earlier when he needed assistance. _It’s so quiet, maybe I’ll keep practicing for another couple minutes and let her sleep._

And it was quiet. Very quiet. It took another minute for Harry’s newly awakened instincts to kick in, but when they did, they screamed danger. _I should be hearing the evening insects chirping and the nocturnal birds and bats moving about._ Instead of these comforting sounds, all Harry could hear was the beating of his own heart and Hedwig’s slow breathing. _I’ve got to wake her up!_

Harry, in a last second decision to fly to her rather than walk, swooped the 15 feet down the branch.

 **“Hedwi-“** *BOOM*

Harry was completely taken off guard, almost flying directly into the trunk as a small explosion of light hit the branch right where he had been sitting. He stopped himself and, changing directions, darted up into the air.

 _SHITSHITSHITSHIT WHAT IN NAME OF MERLIN WAS THAT?!_ He had no time to panic, however, as multicolored blasts started to shoot up around him. He dove and dodged most, but got grazed by a few severing and stunning charms.

With quite a few feathers missing, and one of his wings half numb, Harry tried to swoop in closer to see if Hedwig had escaped. She had, and was now frantically flitting about, trying to find him.

 **“I’M OVER HERE!”** he shouted. She immediately turned to try and fly up to him just as another severing charm flew by his face. **“NO! DON’T COME OVER HERE! FLY AWAY! GET SOMEWHERE SAFE!”** seeing that she was still trying to approach he frantically called out again, **“THAT WAS AN ORDER! GET SOMEPLACE SAFE AND I’LL CALL YOU WHEN I GET AWAY!”** That earned him a pissed off glare from his companion but she did turn tail midflight and dart away from the scene.

Harry let out a small mental sigh and quickly dove to the left to avoid another spell sent flying his way. Knowing that he couldn’t keep dodging forever, especially with his bum wing, a terrible idea occurred to him, but he knew he had to do everything in his power to escape capture.

 **“BIRDS, RAPTORS AND ALL FLYING CREATURES! YOUR LORD IS IN DANGER AND NEEDS YOUR PROTECTION!”** Just as they had twice before, all the birds in the area all darted out to meet Harry in a couple seconds. Instantly recognizing the immediate danger, about half of the party dove down below the tree line to attack and distract his would be capturers. The other half swarmed Harry, some supporting his damaged wing, others just flying about, trying to make it harder to tell exactly where the white bird was.

Shouts of both pain and frustration echoed through the surrounding area and with that, Harry and his entourage made their exit.

o000o

To put it lightly, Marcos was furious. Of course he had tried to prepare himself, should such a thing happen, but it did little to ease the rage that was currently rolling off him in waves.

 _19 FUCKING wands and not A SINGLE ONE can land a clean shot?_ Some he knew, had valid excuses. Two of his men had had their eyes bloodily scratched out by birds, and one witch had almost died, her throat having been ripped open by a particularly vicious golden eagle. It seemed everyone had been injured to some degree and the foliage around the sight of their failure was covered in feathers, hair, and blood.

Curiously, the only person to not be wounded in any way was the pig of a man, _Tibeus_.

Marcos began to rage harder, _Of all the wizards here of course it had to be him who would get the FUCKING LUCKY DRAW._ It was time to enact his plan and let out some stress.

He turned to approach the group, all huddled about the camp sight, either tending their own wounds, or the wounds of others. “Who was it fired the first shot?” His tone was as cool and hard as steel.

“I did, Marc” a short man sitting near the outer edge of camp murmured.

 _Perfect._ Marcos nearly purred to himself. It was as if fate was finally giving him a break. “Oh really, Tibeus? Why does that not surprise me.” He turned to glare at the man head on. “I’m beginning to question whether you want us to catch this bird at all.”

The short man looked taken aback at this accusation, “And what exactly do you mean by that?” Tibeus tried to glare down his nose the same way the taller wizard did, but he couldn’t quite pull it off.

“What do you think I mean?” Marcos sneered and glanced about, seeing everyone’s eyes trained on his scapegoat. “You somehow know exactly where the bird is after two weeks of fruitless searching. You fire the first shot and miss, alerting it of our presence, and now you return to us without so much as a scratch when the rest of us barely survive.” Another pause and a hard glare, “What I _mean_ , is I think you’re working for the ministry and are here to RUIN OUR EFFORTS!” he ended in a vicious growl.

Of course Marcos didn’t believe a word of what he was saying. The man was much too dim to pull off anything so extravagant as an infiltration. _Probably just hid his sorry ass after his failed shot._

Unfortunately for Tibeus, the other poachers seemed to believe Marcos’s story.

“Yeah!” shouted a well-built Turkish man, “How come we all got fucked up by this damn birds and you look healthier than when we started?” There were murmurs of agreement.

Tibeus was starting to look terrified. “WHAT? No! They just didn’t seem to attack me! Ask Emil! He was right beside me,” his eyes darted to said man, “right Emil? It was weird! They just seemed to avoid me and I was attacking the same as everyone!”

Emil, looked down and off to the side. “I wasn’t really paying attention to you seeing as I was being attacked myself.”

The short man started to look even more frantic but before he could further defend himself, Marcos called out. “SEE! He can’t even explain why isn’t injured! This man is a traitor and should BE TREATED ACCORDINGLY!” He finished his statement, pointing his dark wand directly in Tibeus’s face.

“Everte Statum” Marcos snarled with a flick of his wand, and sent Tibeus flying backwards, only to stop when his head impacted nosily with a tree. From there the spells flew out rapid fire from the tip of Marcos’s wand.

“Furnunculus!” huge, blistering boils broke out across the man’s skin.

“Incendio!” his cloths caught fire and smell of burning flesh started to spread about the campsite. Tibeus screamed.

“Sectumsempra!” large gashes torn open crisscrossing the man’s body and blood began to ooze out onto the ground.

Marcos started to calm down once Tibeus’s shrieks died down to whimpers. _That felt amazing._

He knew he should probably say something to the other witches and wizards, but he just couldn’t bring himself out of his content mental space to utter a single word.

“Did you kill him? Marcos!” the man rolled his head to look over his shoulder, making eye contact with heavily glaring woman. “Vell? Did you or did you not kill him?” Natasha was starting to look even more perturbed the more minutes passed without an answer.

“I don’t know. I think he’s still breathing.” Marcos sighed. _Hopefully I’ve planted enough misguided rage in their minds, they’ll let this slide._ “I suppose we should go check him. He may have info on how he was able to infiltrate our ranks.”

Natasha did not look too convinced, but slowly edged around the dangerous wizard to inspect the other. “He is still breathing, but just barely. You really did a number in him.” She glanced down again at the mass of gore and cringed. “If ve vant him to survive to be questioned, there eez a lot ve need to do, and soon.” She glanced back at the rest of the group, but none moved to help her. She sighed. “I guess ve’ll just vait until he dies and bury him then.” Once again, no one said or did a thing.

“Natasha, we don’t have time to wait. I’m sure someone saw which direction the bird was headed so we should heal up everyone as fast as possible then follow it. I’ve managed to collect a few tail feather fragments the bird dropped. We can rub them on the wounded and they alone should be able to heal.” He looked around for support.

A few still looked at him with respect, a few with fear, but most silently agreed and moved to start healing their comrades.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've now introduced Charlie, but that doesn't mean he's set as Harry's love interest! Voting and comments are still very much appreciated.


	5. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People are angry and sometimes the answers to questions can be worse than not knowing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Holy shit this chapter is almost 6000 words! It may be a little confusing, but the second half of the chapter actually takes place before the poacher attack while the first half is the day after. Remember to check white--feathered (dot) tumblr (dot) com for updates on my progress writing chapters, concept art, and an ask box :) There isn't much there right now, but I be posting there more often than I will be posting full chapters :)

Anyone who happened to be watching the southern sky from Hogwarts in the late afternoon heat of August 22 would have witnessed a very peculiar scene. Unsurprisingly, no one was watching. It was still over a week until the students arrived and the teachers that were already there tended to lurk within the castle.

As it were, the view that no one witnessed was of a decent sized flock of birds approach, then enter, the forbidden forest. This in and of itself would be quite normal, except such a flock had never been seen flying together before. The group was largely composed of small birds, sparrows, doves and pigeons, but boasted a surprising number of larger and rarer avians. Man sized golden eagles scouted and circled the outskirts of the mass, while a few random buzzards and falcons formed a tight, protective ring around the smaller birds. Completely hidden away, at the center of the group, was massive, pearlescent raptor.

This raptor was thoroughly exhausted and half delirious with pain. It had been flying for over 20 hours straight and had been further draining its energy the entire time, constantly reinvigorating and healing its entourage. The other birds could not begin to know why they were flying so far, but thought only of how to best protect the bird they were swarmed around.

Upon reaching the south most edge of the forest, the group started to descend rather rapidly. Their charge had ordered them to land high in the first trees that could not easily be spotted from outside the woods. They did so, gently assisting him with landing in the juncture of a thick branch, therefore allowing him to stay a safe distance from the ground while not having to expend energy on staying balanced.

 **“Thank you all, so much.”** The bird looked like he might have been on the verge of tears, **“without your help, and your sacrifices I, I-“**

He was interrupted by a small starling perched a half a foot in front of him, **“Not say! We help!”** its speech was awkward and short, but it got its point across. A few nearby birds cooed and nodded in agreement.

Their leader looked a bit heartbroken. Quite a few of the original flock had died, both in his bid to escape the poachers and from simple exhaustion. Most birds are not built to fly more than a few hours at time. Despite this, he had tried to continually push a bubble of healing magic out around the flock, but had lost the strength to maintain it sometime mid-morning.

He sighed.

Harry didn’t how long they had been flying other than that they had continued through the night and what must have been the majority of another day. He also had no inkling of where they had landed. The entire trip was a bit of daze because he had shut off the logical part of his mind for most of it and allowed his magic to guide him.

Had the Niveus been fully conscious, his whereabouts would have been significantly more important to him, but as it were, he was currently losing a battle with his exhaustion.

 **“Still,”** he was now struggling to speak, **“I just want to say thank you.”** He glanced around, receiving knowing glances from his entourage, then lay his back against the trunk to sleep.

o000o

A well-built, blond man trudged solemnly across a vast grassland. It was now late afternoon and he had made significant progress walking north. He lingered towards the back of a group of dirty and hastily bandaged men and women, all marching in silence. The others around him were expressing various levels of emotion, from disappointed, to frustrated, to furious; however, only Charlie seemed to look sad.

 _It’s because of me Tibeus is dead!_ It was a terrible burden. Not only had he hexed and manipulated the man to help Harry escape, he had done nothing to protect him when their mad-dog of a leader tore into him. _Literally, tore into him._

There was little he could have done, seeing as there was no way his cover, Emil, would have stepped in to defend an apparent traitor. Still, Charlie cringed. He had heard before hand of Coval’s reputation for violence, but it was rare he encountered a wizard with the capacity for so much spontaneous hatred. Even worse, _the man was creative._ It would have been less brutal for him to use Crucio to torture the man, then Avada Kedavra to kill him.

Charlie had run the encounter over again and again in his mind and had come to a disturbing conclusion. Where it seemed obvious to him Marcos has fully intended to execute Tibeus from the start, it was not to the others. The lunatic had wanted the ‘traitor’s’ death to seem accidental to the rest of the group, using non-deadly charms and hexes, _except for that last spell._

 _That last spell was definitely a curse of some sort. What was it called? Semptum-secpra? No…_ Charlie racked his brain, the name of the spell had been very distinctive. _It was definitely se- Sectumsempra! That was it._ He had never seen or heard of it before. It had been a powerful curse, ripping a precisely organized set of gaping holes into the body it was cast on, ensuring death within minutes.

This was obviously a newly created curse, but the wizard wasn’t sure Coval was smart enough to invent such a spell.

_If it had been simpler, I might have believed it, but it takes a witch or wizard with intricate knowledge of spell creation and Latin to compose a single command that can do so much damage at once!_

Whoever had taught Marcos the spell was likely close to him in some way and would be in on this hunt. Charlie hadn't sensed any particularly powerful witches or wizards within the group so it was most likely he was a sponsor of some sort.

The ~~redhead~~ blond tried not to think of the implications. There were few dark wizards he knew of who were into curse creation, and not a single one he wanted to deal with should he be discovered.

 _Anyways,_ he forced himself to think about something else. This train of thought was not productive.

 _I hope I didn’t leave any traces of magic on the body._ Charlie hadn’t had to do much to Tibeus to frame him. A small misdirection hex on his first spell and a distraction charm to divert the birds away had been more than enough. He wasn’t too concerned anyone would find anything on the corpse. What did worry him were Marcos’s accusations.

 _It’s unlikely he honestly believes Tibeus was smart enough to be a ministry agent, but the fact that he brought it up at all means he is aware of the possibility._ That was definitely not good for Charlie. He would need to be on even higher alert from now on to avoid suspicion.

It was frustrating. It had been near impossible for Charlie to retrieve his pager and hide it with his belongings in the aftermath of the previous night’s events. He hadn’t been able to update his father on the situation at all and likely wouldn’t be able to for some time.

Still, despite all these new problems, his primary mission had been a success. The niveus had escaped, the poachers had been wounded, though unfortunately not discouraged, and his cover was still intact. Despite all odds, Harry got to be free another day.

 _That’s a little weird. I’m not sure when I started thinking of the bird as Harry._ It had been an abrupt change and Charlie was quite sure he hadn’t been referring to the niveus as Harry before the failed attack. He couldn’t quite pinpoint why, but he just knew the bird was Harry from being near it.

He had barely met the boy-who-lived, but there had always been a distinct magical aura Charlie had felt from the wizard. Earlier that day, even 30 feet below the bird, on the ground, he had felt that same energy again. It was unlike the power he had felt rolling of any other creature, from dragon to wizard to unicorn and it had invigorated him like nothing else.

It was strange, in the few moments he had spent with the teen, he had felt a sort of magnetic pull from the other’s magic. It had barely been a tug every time before, but today it had been much stronger.

A gear suddenly turned and another intensely worrying thought slammed into his consciousness. He almost tripped from the intensity of his own realization, but regained his balance quickly and walked on. He could follow the thought and remain cool.

In prepping for having to deal with a niveus, he had extensively researched old and obscure texts, trying to discern fact from legend. One thing he had come across, and hesitantly brushed off as fiction, was the ability of the creature to call protectors and servants for itself. As massively powerful, and essentially unkillable as it was, the creature was said to have some need to surround itself in the purest beings it could find. It was well recorded that the last niveus known to the wizarding world had a cult of followers, but had been extensively debated whether they served it on their own volition or not.

He knew Harry he had met would never purposefully control those around him, but creature inheritances had been known to drastically alter the personality of the person changing. They always retained who they were on a basic level, but any part of their personality that directly contrasted with their creature self would be diluted.

While a small part of Charlie was strangely flattered that the niveus, be it Harry or not, decided he had a pure heart, _What is this some cheesy fairytale_ , he was also completely terrified of the creature’s power. If he could feel it so distinctly from over 30 feet away, what would it do to him if the poachers were ever successful and he had to handle it?

His blood ran cold. _What if I lose myself? What if those stories of niveus’ completely controlling their followers are true?_ It was a terrifying train of thought that brought on one even worse. _What if Marcos is somehow successful in controlling it and I’m forced to serve him by extension?_

He glared at the back of said man’s head. He seems to be off in his own world, occasionally tripping on clumps of grass and small shrubs. Still, he had a chaotic, dark aura swirling around him that screamed of danger and madness.

Charlie could honestly say he had never been more afraid, or more determined in his life. _Even if saving this damn bird means l lose my free will, it’s a small price to pay for preventing a murdering psychopath from controlling me. I will save this bloody bird._

_o000o The Evening Prior o000o_

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN HARRY’S GONE?”

“WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON?”

“WEREN’T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE GUARDING HIM?”

“HOW DID WE NOT KNOW HE WAS GONE FOR THREE WEEKS?”

“THIS IS YOUR FAULT!”

It was a good thing there were extensive silencing charms guarding the outside world from the pandemonium going on in 12 Grimmauld Place. What had started as an unexpected, but relatively calm, order meeting had quickly turned into a shouting match once the purpose of the meeting was ascertained.

The main culprit was Molly Weasley, spitting mad that her practically adopted son was missing, but a few pointed accusations could also be heard coming from Ron and Hermione.

“SHUT THE BLOODY HELL UP!” bellowed a rather crazed looking man. His dark, curly hair was sticking up in all different directions and his face was covered in a thin layer of sweat. Immediately the chaos died down, and everyone’s eyes were shifted to him.

After a couple seconds of awkward silence, Molly spoke up, “Ok Sirius, I’m sorry. Please continue.”

Sirius tried to compose himself and abruptly dropped back down into the armchair he had sprang out of a minute before. “Ok, as I was saying. Harry is-” He sighed and tried again, “I was worried because Harry hadn’t written in three weeks. Actually, I was worried after two, but it took a little while to find a way to Privet drive while staying under the radar.” Black’s head dropped back down into his hands, his fingers instantly easing into his hair. “I was worried his pig of an uncle had done something to him in retaliation-“

Once again, he was interrupted, “Retaliation for what Sirius?” This time it was Dumbledore who spoke up, raising a single white eyebrow in concern.

Black continued to stare at the floor, “Look Albus, I’ve known for the past several years about how the Dursleys treat my godson. They’re terrible people and with Voldemort’s return I- I just couldn’t leave Harry there knowing he’d have to deal with them on top of being afraid for his life.” He glanced up to see a mix of confusion, approval, and concern on the faces of the other order members. “That being said, when he first returned home this summer, I kind of threatened that if they did anything unsavory, I would ‘make them wish they’d neverbeenborn’ orsomething ofthelike.” The last part was blurted out quickly, but his audience still caught every word.

“Blimey, good on you.” Ron blushed slightly under the disapproving look he received from his mother.

Sirius cleared his throat when after several minutes no one else spoke up to congratulate or berate him. “Anyways, I visited Privet drive earlier today. Apparently, Harry’s ‘family’ hadn’t seen him since the day before his birthday and had immediately accepted that he had left. They graciously allowed me,” he glanced around and was met with a few eye rolls, “to investigate his room for clues. He had released Hedwig and put a muggle distraction charm on his door so we know he at least left his room willingly, but inside-“Sirius let out a short, chocked sob, as if shocked by his own memory. “He hadn’t taken a thing. Everything from his clothes, to his books, to his bloody wand-“this next sob was less chocked, more pronounced, “Why would he leave his wand?”

The implications set in quickly. No witch or wizard in their right mind would go anywhere without their wand for more than a few minutes. Especially with the dark lord’s return, it was suicide.

Just when an unbroken blanket of dread was starting to lay over the group, a sudden gasp was heard from the back of the room.

“I think I might have something.” All eyes darted to the eldest Weasley. “Harry lives just an hour to the west of London, right?” Sirius nodded. “Well Charlie’s been keeping me updated with his ROES work and last he told me, the poachers he’s investigating had caught scent of something in the same general area.” Arthur had pulled a small, grey box out of his coat while he was speaking and was now tapping out a message on a small keyboard. “It could be nothing, of course, but he’s been in England for two weeks and he may have seen or heard something.”

Everyone knew it was a stretch, but Sirius clung to little glimmer of hope with all the strength of a drowning man to a lifesaver.

Here, Dumbledore again spoke up, “We can probably rule out that Voldemort or any of his followers have successfully killed him.” A few of the group nodded slowly.

“You’re right,” Hermione rasped, “That beast would have made it into a huge public affair.” She hated thinking of her friend in danger, but tried to convince herself that he was logically, still alive.

The room was silent again as everyone mulled over the given information. Those that were close to Harry on a personal level all looked slightly deranged, while those order members who did not simply looked concerned.

“Well we’re not going to get anything done just sitting here.” Hermione again, “We should look into tracking his magic signature, or go to Privet drive and look for more clues.”

“There’s nothing at Privet drive.” Black murmured. He was grateful that his godson had such caring friends, but they would accomplish nothing except drawing more of the deatheaters’ attention.

Hermione snapped at the older man, “Well I’m not willing to just sit here when Harry needs us!” She turned to stomp out of the room but was stopped by calm voice.

“Miss Granger, I’m sure we all equally want to find and help Mr. Potter, but we can’t do that until we have more information.” Albus sighed, “Your idea to cook up a spell to track his magical signature is a good one. Do you think you could organize a few of us to help you with that?”

The girl’s shoulders relaxed a few centimeters and she turned back to face the room. “Alright. I can do that.” She made eye contact with a few people then she, Lupin, Tonks, and all attending Weasley children exited to the kitchen.

Not missing a beat, the elderly wizard spoke up again “Arthur,” the man looked up from his muggle device. “Stay on that and should anything come up, call us all back here to tell us.” Arthur nodded and walked out of the room with Molly at his side to go sit and try to contact his son. Albus then turned to the order members not directly involved with Harry. “You all should back to your posts. You will be contacted with relevant information as we are.”

The only response he received was a grunt from Moody, but the others all exited the property one way or another.

Finally, Dumbledore turned back to Sirius. “Sirius, did you collect Harry’s things from his room?” Black nodded. “Good, you should unpack and inspect everything just to be sure there aren’t any other clues.”

Sirius nodded and stood to move to another part of the house.

Having cleared the room, Albus sighed and let his weariness seep onto his face.

_Where in the world are you Harry?_

o000o

It wasn’t an hour later that the occupants of 12 Grimmauld place were startled from their actions by excited shouts from the downstairs parlor.

“CHARLIE’S RESPONDED! HE SAYS HE MIGHT KNOW WHERE HARRY IS!”

Within seconds the small room was full, everyone trying to press close to Mr. Weasley to see the information themselves. They couldn’t, of course, the message had already been replaced by Arthur’s response, but this didn’t discourage the group from squeezing in tightly.

Arthur let out an indignant squawk at being so crowded. “Merlin! People! Back off before you crush me!” His words held no real bight but they caused the few adults, Sirius, Lupin, and Tonks who had joined the younger members in crushing Mr. Weasley, to step back.

Albus, who had now entered the room at a slower pace, spoke up, “You lot need to give the man space as well.” A slight twinkle returned to the old man’s eye as he gestured to Hermione and the Weasley children, sans Bill who had not rushed his father. They were acting more their ages than he had seen any of them in years, but in doing so were only impeding progress.

Grumbling all but the twins pulled away. Satisfied, Arthur elaborated on his earlier statement. “I told Charlie the town and street Harry lives on and he said he might know where he was.” He glanced down at his screen again, “I just sent ‘You see him? He ok?’ He hasn’t responded yet.”

The group was silent in nervous anticipation, Mr. Weasley had not shared anything Charlie had told him about his current mission other than his earlier remark, but had a feeling it would be a necessity after this conversation. He knew that Charlie was apparently trying to prevent the capture of some massively powerful, ancient creature. He hadn’t elaborated on what exactly it was, only that it had surprisingly showed up in a muggle suburb about an hour out of London. Whatever it was, Charlie had said that this was likely to be his most drawn out and dangerous mission. Hearing this had worried his father, but Arthur knew his son was an adult and would do it with or without his support or approval.

A series of messages popped up on the tiny grey screen. Each only stayed for a couple seconds before being replaced by the next so Arthur had to read fast.

C: [I NOT SEE, NOT KNOW]

C: [HE DISAPEAR SAME TIME]

C: [CREATURE APPEAR]

“I didn’t catch any of that.” Hermione blurted from Mr. Weasley’s right. She had slowly crept back closer to the chair to stand beside Fred and try to read the screen.

George spoke quickly, “He says that he doesn’t know if Harry is ok-“

Fred took over speaking in an identical voice,” because he hasn’t seen him.”

It was always a bit dizzying for Arthur when his sons talked back and forth on either side of him so he spoke up to avoid their continuing. “Charlie also says Harry disappeared at the same time the creature he’s been following appeared. I’ll ask for clarification then read out everything he says, ok?”

The rest of the room nodded in agreement and Hermione even stepped back from the chair, there was no way she would be able to read and decipher the messages as quickly as they came.

Another set of messages popped up on the screen and, just as promised, the eldest Weasley read them out as fast as they appeared. “Poachers after Niveus. Appear July 31st here. Human form is skinny teen. With black hair. Green eyes. Maybe H inherit.” Through the course of a couple seconds the expressions of almost everyone in the room shifted from curious to shocked. Only Dumbledore and Hermione differed. The former kept a reasonably straight face the latter only seemed to grow more confused.

Arthur’s hands shook slightly. Whether this Niveus was Harry or not, his son was in mortal danger. Not only was the bird known to be extremely deadly, but anyone mad enough to go after such a pure creature would have to be Bellatrix level cruel.

He barely held his voice steady as he continued to read out their conversation. “I’m asking if he’s sure.” The only sound in the room was the soft clicking of the pager’s keys as the message was entered. Almost a minute passed with complete silence before he spoke up again. “Charlie says,” he sucked a breath in between his teeth,” yes.”

This time it was Ron who blurted out a quiet, “Holy hell.”

The room was once again silent for a few minutes. Molly and her husband seemed to be having a silent conversation with their eyes, Lupin’s face hardened into a hard to read mask, and Sirius’s eyes and jaw gaped open.

“Arthur, I think it’s time you told us everything about Charlie’s mission. We need to know more about these poachers and something else he mentioned,” Dumbledore paused his speech to glance over at the one muggle born among them, “Inheritance was it? Also, I have a feeling an explanation of what a Niveus is wouldn’t go amiss either.”

Another few minutes passed before Arthur seemed to regain his voice, “Of course. I imagine there’s a lot that needs to be said.” He drew his eyes away from the accusing glare of his wife to stare at his hands in his lap.

Molly knew that there were things Charlie told her husband but not her, but the idea that he might have shared the incredible danger of his mission with his father without telling her made her want to throttle someone. She deserved to know when her own flesh and blood was willingly putting himself in mortal danger! Arthur’s look down was an admission of guilt. He had known. “Yes dear, I imagine there is.” She crossed her arms and waited.

The younger Weasleys seemed to understand somem of the exchange between their parents and got more and more frustrated with their father’s silence.

“Would you spit it out already?” Ginny murmured, crossing her arms. It was uncommon for her father to be so speechless and it was unnerving her.

Said wizard whipped his head up to look at his daughter with aching eyes,” Now Ginny, that’s not nice.” He sighed for the fourth time in the past ten minutes then began his story. “I guess I should start by saying Charlie has been keeping me updated on his missions for quite a while now. I’m not sure how much of the advice I offer him is useful,” he chuckled slightly, “but I try to help where I can. He messaged me about twenty days ago to tell me about his latest. Apparently he was to go back undercover as one of his Romanian poacher avatars to gain information about a potentially huge case.” Looking around and seeing a few confused faces, Arthur backtracked slightly, “Charlie doesn’t work full time on the dragon reserve. He does research there, but his extensive knowledge about magical creatures makes him an excellent poacher. He doesn’t actually go after animals, he just pretends to be one, with the support of the ministry, and thwarts others from capturing and killing more sentient creatures. His job isn’t to prevent every poach, or even to arrest the bad guys, it’s just to prevent the suffering of thinking magical creatures and collect evidence against individuals so that other agents can apprehend them.”

Arthur paused again to formulate his next words. “Back to his mission, he contacted me a few days later with big news. He wouldn’t tell me everything, but essentially said that this was likely going to be the most important, and dangerous mission of his life. I asked him if the risk was really worth it and asked for more information, but all he would say was that it definitely was and there was no way I would be able to talk him out of it.” The wizard paused, looking up to see his wife’s glare had softened slightly, but her eyes and lips were tighter than ever.

“I had no idea, Molly. There’s no way I could have possibly known it was a Niveus-“ he let himself be cut off by the woman.

“I know.” She stared directly into his eyes, “I just wish you’d told me he was going to be in so much danger.” She then turned a softer eye to her other children. “And you lot better tell me if you decide to go do something completely stupid. I already fear for your lives every second of every day, just,” her voice faltered slightly, “tell your old mum when you’re going to do something pointlessly selfless like risk your life for a bird.” She trailed off, leaving the room in silence once more.

Here, Hermione barely resisted the urge to raise her hand as she spoke up. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to interrupt, but I feel like I’m missing something really big here.” She looked over to Dumbledore, “You said someone would explain what a niveus is? From what I can gather, it’s some sort of sentient bird, but what’s so special about it?”

For the third time that evening, Ron spoke up. “Hermione, it’s, well it’s sort of a fairytale.” Seeing her puzzled look, he continued, “A niveus is a giant white phoenix that lives forever and is super powerful. I think most kids grow up hearing and reading stories about how they’re super pure and are the only thing that can truly bring someone back to life. They always seem to talk in riddles and only help the hero of the story super cryptically.” Ron looked unsurely between his father and headmaster. “That’s about all I remember.”

“Very good Mr. Weasley, however, you are leaving out a few key details.” Albus seemed to have reawaken from his silence. He turned then to face Hermione directly,” Not only are the phoinix Niveus stuff of fairytales, they are a very real and deadly species; the reason they have fallen into legend is their rarity. The last one known to the wizarding world was over 200 years ago. It was a female named Ядвикга*, and was worshipped as a deity by many. By the time she disappeared, she was said to be over 800 years old and had already started to fade out into obscurity. The only people who seem to truly believe she was a real, tangible being are those who deal in ancient and powerful artifacts.” The elderly wizard could almost see the gears turning in the young witch’s head.

She clarified, “Do you mean poachers and their trade market?” He only nodded so she continued,” What part of the animal could be so potent that it would still be valuable after 200 years?”

Dumbledore continued his explanation, “Their feathers, Miss Granger. After 200 years, even the smallest fragments of the feathers of a Niveus are potent enough to bring people back from the brink of death and strengthen those who are not. Just as Mr. Weasley stated, niveus are also said to be able to bring people back from complete death. I do believe this is true because their less powerful cousin, the phoenix, can accomplish amazing feats with its tears alone.” He paused, allowing anyone who had anything to add to speak up. No one did, so he changed the subject, “Mr. Weasley, I think it time we discuss the main point of our gathering. Charlie mentioned there was a chance this Niveus was a post-inheritance Harry. I know quite a bit about typical inheritances, but I’m afraid my knowledge of such extraordinary circumstances is severely limited. Has Charlie told you anything he has learned in his studies?”

All eyes in the room, which had migrated to Albus, turned back to Arthur. “Well,” he cleared his throat, “He had mentioned something to me before. He was at one point writing a paper on creature inheritance and had come across a couple strange stories. According to him, there was apparently writings of a real, living Anubis. An Egyptian wizard inherited the traits of a jackal and used his appearance to convince the pharaoh’s priests that he was the deity incarnate. He was treated as such until the end of his natural life.” The wizard again cleared his throat. “Charlie said that he only came across five such stories in his research. All featured a witch or wizard coming into a creature inheritance the same way the children of werewolves and the like do, then using whatever assets this new persona gave them to live as fully as they could.”

“If this is all true, and Harry really is this immensely powerful phoenix, how are the poachers a threat to him?” Hermione was looking as confused as she was at the beginning of the conversation and was starting to get frustrated about her complete lack of knowledge on the subject. Her mind was made up, as soon as the group split she was heading to Black family library to research.

Finally breaking out of his comatose like state, Sirius contributed. “Harry likely has no idea how to use whatever new abilities he has, no access to his regular magic without his wand, a completely new body to figure out and to top it off a pack of bloodthirsty wizards hunting him down who are willing to do anything to stop him from getting away.” By the end of his tirade Black was practically growling.

Lupin looked over at his friend with the same strangle look he had held the entire time. “Oh Sirius, do you really think so little of your godson?” This earned him an actual growl before the offending party could suppress it. “Are you so blind with rage you forget who exactly we are talking about? Our Harry is probably the most resourceful wizard I know; even in these circumstances, he’ll be fine.” Sirius remained silent, but seemed to cool down a few degrees.

“Now that we have that all straightened out,” Dumbledore interrupted, “You all should return to your previous jobs. Nothing has really changed. We don’t know exactly where Harry is, how to contact him, or how to help him.” Hermione looked like she was about to protest, but before she could, Albus raised his hand. “I’m sure you desire to take more drastic action and charge in to find Harry, but if this isn’t him, we would only endanger Charlie’s cover and ourselves. We step in once we can confirm that this niveus is Harry.” Dumbledore punctuated his command by leaving the room to go inform the other order members of this recent development.

Though his word clung in the air as final, the younger witches and wizards in the room exchanged looks that seemed to defy his plan of non-action.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know there isn't a lot in Harry's perspective this chapter, but it was getting way too long so I had to move some things into chapter 6 :p Also, I just realized I've essentially spent 3 chapters on on day, so that's fun o.o   
> I made a post on tumblr about the Harry's love interest so if you want an update on that check the blog :) (link at the top)


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